by Will Crudge
Several silent minutes passed by, but to him, it might as well been millennia. Luckily for his human allies, he was fully capable of staying on task. The beacon was still in the same position, but he wished he had nano-tech for scouting. He was designed to utilize nano-tech, but the Crimson Alliance rarely trusted anyone with its use… especially lowly infantry drones.
He considered obtaining the required hardware for nano deployment, now that he was finally not stranded on some dusty rock. But for now, he would have to trust his upgrades. But amid all of the advanced mods that Trixie had blessed him with, it was Katherine’s relentless training that had given him his deadliest feature… The tactics of a War Master. Although he lacked gut instinct, he had developed his own internal algorithms to approximate the x-factors to a certain extent. He knew he could never match a human, in that regard, but he was still more durable. Plus, he never needed to eat or sleep.
He was ready for combat. Ready to liberate the only mother he knew.
***
The world was devoid of light. Consciousness was quickly emerging once more, but Gail’s mind was still foggy. Then a dull tinge of light entered her eyes. Am I dreaming? Gail thought to herself. Then she noticed something was missing. Something she’d grown accustomed to. Pain.
She felt pain-free for the first time since she could remember, and she had no idea how long ago that had been. But now a flood of memories began to rush back to her, and she remembered who she was.
Then she noticed something flickering in her field of view. She tried moving her eyes, but it remained in place, and followed her every movement. My HUD! She realized. Somehow, her armor had come to life, and her mind was flooded with a surge of hope. She knew if her HUD was powered up, then her med-nano had been online. That explained why she was now free from pain… and meant that her core chest-back-and shoulder armor was fully initialized.
She checked her vitals, and was astonished to see that she was physically 86% combat effective, and steadily improving. The chemical cocktails of stimulants, and vital nutrients were pouring into her body like a wild river. The only thing that kept her stationary was the weight of her armor. Without the powered armor limbs, she had to rely on her own physical strength to move, and that was proving difficult to say the least.
Then something entered her field of vision. She flinched in response, but then relaxed a moment later. The large bear-panther-creature was on its feet… or paws, she figured. It was dragging bright red pieces of metal towards her, and the metallic scraping sounds made her skin crawl in the process.
“Here, Soldier.” The creature spoke as it seemed to toss, what appeared to be, and powered armor sleeve for a Crimson Spec ops suit. Gail was stunned by the talking creature, and began an internal debate on whether or not she was still hallucinating. “Well?” It spoke again.
“Are you real?” Gail asked, and she was astonished on how well her voice was working.
“Yes, dear. Very real. I’m a Zodiac.” It said.
“Wait! No – no it can’t be…”
“It is, and we don’t have time to debate this!” The creature said with a stern female voice that sounded to Gail like a frustrated growl.
“Uh… Ok… What do you need me to do?” Gail replied. She still wasn’t sure if the bear-panther was a hallucination or not, but she didn’t see the harm in indulging a mythical creature’s request.
“Finish assembling your suit. These limbs may not be what you’re used to, but they have compatible hardware… Compatible enough to get you mobile, at least.” The bear-cat-zodiac replied.
***
It was all a part of the plan.
Something rose in their collective awareness, and Jimma drew her sword instinctively. The golden looking energy ball from the pulse blaster was instantly absorbed and then redirected by a single sword swipe. The blast harmlessly impacted a nearby deck plate, and Jimma was now in a full defensive stance. Grinder just began to growl and gnash his teeth at nothing in particular. Jimma knew he was expanding his awareness in all directions, and was likely keying in on more than one enemy.
“Well, look at you!” The sinister, yet familiar voice filled Jimma’s awareness. Zedd!
She turned in the direction of the voice, and she grimaced in response. A lone figure stepped from the shadows in full body armor. She couldn’t see his face behind the helmet’s visor, but she knew the man’s body language well. She could also feel his familiar energy. Nine months of being on his command staff had given her keen insights into the man, and thus she could sense him anywhere. She never knew if it was his unique energy signature, or if it was his creepy persona, but she could always sense when he was near.
“I’ve never seen you in armor before.” She responded with a scowl.
“Not having a neural interface always made me feel – unnatural – in armor.” He said, as he strolled within five meters of her before stopping. He was spinning the pistol on his finger, if only to accentuate his inflated arrogance.
“I can imagine. I don’t have one either… for obvious reasons.” Jimma spat. She didn’t know if she was over-acting, or if her disgust for the man was getting under her skin.
“I know.” He shrugged his shoulders, and his helmet disassembled itself back into his matte black shoulder plate. His armor was similar in construction to spec ops armor, but it was all black, and seemed to be of a sleeker design. Jimma figured it was either after market, or some sort of prototype.
“I never expected you to be here.” Jimma said as she shot him an inquisitive look. “As far as anyone knows, you died during the Unum Incursion.”
“Unum Incursion… Is that what they’re calling it?” Zedd gave her a sarcastic nod of approval. “Well, no. I’m afraid I’m alive and well. You get good at surviving dangerous situations at my age.”
At my age? The words hung in her mind. The man was probably no more than sixty, but he appeared to have a physical age of barely forty. “Enough chit-chat!” She interjected with an authoritarian tone. “You know why I am here!”
“I do.” He smiled. “And I was hoping your father might have come instead… But I suppose capturing you will eventually flush him out!”
Jimma didn’t let her feelings come to the surface. She was shocked by his assertion, but she kept a stern expression of confidence and disdain. “What does my father have to do with you? You probably don’t even know who he…” She was cut off.
“War Master Jep Alba.” He said with every measure of confidence. “Yes… I know full well who he is. And you won’t be conscious long enough for me to explain why I’m looking for him!” No sooner did he end the sentence, when a gravity hammer swing down on her. She responded instantly and brought her energy shield up to meet it, but the repulsive forces of each device drove her down on one knee. A Crimson commando, with bright red armor was sent stumbling away, only to regain his footing a few seconds later. The gravity hammer in his hand was arcing with electricity as it seemed to recharge after the impact.
But her shield had flared out entirely, and she realized how lucky she was to have survived. Grinder sprang into action, and the commando was on his back in a second. The forceful impact of his forepaws on the armored chest plate send the man sliding backward on the deck. Sparks flew as the weight of the massive K-9 added to the friction. By the time they slid to a halt, Jimma had closed the gap between herself and her former commanding officer.
Zedd drew down on her with his pistol, but he was too late. She slashed the barrel in half, and then planted her feet to regain her sense of balance. Zedd took advantage of this slight pause and buried his fist into her ribs. She was knocked down onto her back, and Grinder yelped in response to the shared sensation of pain.
The slight stunning effect of the pain created an opening for another enemy to tackle him. He was knocked off of the enemy he was pinning to the deck, and then two more commandos jumped on top of him. Flurries of fists pounded into Grinder, and he let out a series of painful cries in response.
Jimma felt the impact of every one of them, and she was helplessly convulsing in pain. Zedd grabbed her shoulders and flipped her over onto her stomach. He pulled out some heavy duty wrist restraints, and managed to secure her wrists behind her back. She was screaming in pain, but was now helpless to stop it.
She felt Grinder lose consciousness, and the pain from the beating had dissipated as a result… but it was too late. Even with her superhuman strength, she was unable to force herself out of the wrist restraints. She tried kicking her legs out, but something snagged, and she felt resistance around her ankles. My ankles are trapped as well! She realized.
Zedd just let out a laugh, and motioned for the commandos to cease their onslaught of fists. Grinder lay motionless, and Jimma felt a tear slide from her face. Her cheek was resting on the cold metallic deck, and her arms were pinned just below her shoulder blades. She realized there was a reinforced connecting cable that ran from each cuff, and draped down and in front of her abdomen that ended in the center link of the ankle shackles. Her buttocks were locked straight up in the air. The more she struggled, the tighter the mechanism squeezed her in position.
“You monster!” She spat. The she could hear Zedd’s footsteps come around her. His feet stopped a meter from her field of vision, and he leaned down with something in his hand. Shade’s voice module! The visual image spoke volumes. No Zodiac would relinquish their module, unless they were unable to resist… or worse.
“I knew you’d be looking for this.” Zedd said arrogantly. “But she’s no longer breathing… It took a little creativity to keep the beacon alive, I must say.”
“You’re as good as dead!” Jimma exclaimed in a mixture of anger and sadness.
“But you’re not!” Zedd said with an evil smile. He then stepped away from her field of vision, and walked behind her. Jimma could hear bits of metal hitting the deck, as if he was removing portions of his armor. She felt dread pulse throughout her entire being. She knew that the wretched man was about to do something unspeakable.
She felt his hand grasp the waistband of her trousers, and he ripped them out and away from her body. She felt the cold air strike her exposed skin, and her ass was now bare… and vulnerable.
“I’ve wanted to do this for so very long! Even before you betrayed me…. And now I’ll show you what I think of War Masters… and all those who incur my vengeance!” He growled.
Just as Jimma felt the sensation of Zedd’s – anatomy – about to press into her, a blast of a weapon ranged out from behind them. She heard the sound impact Zedd’s armor, and he was sent crashing into the deck beside her. He groaned in response as he attempted to push himself back up, but a foot slammed into his back plate, and now Jimma was staring at Katherine’s boot heal as it pinned him down.
“Now you die!” Katherine exclaimed, as Jimma saw Zedd’s face wince in anticipation… and fear. But Katherine was knocked clear off of Zedd by a large red streak in Jimma’s periphery. Pulse weapons began to fire from all directions, and the sinister liquid-y whine of plasma weapons mingled within. They were prepared for anything… And I failed! Where is my Primal Rage when I need it most?
Jimma felt more vulnerable now than ever. She realized she’d taken on a mission before she was fully prepared, and as a result, she experienced waves of negative feelings surge through her. War Masters were well-trained on how to constructively channel fear, but extensive periods of mental healing and meditation were required to achieve it. She hadn’t had time to properly prepare herself, and as such, she feared that her faulty emotions may have sapped Grinder’s physical strength.
She sensed that Grinder must have been working over-time to keep her grounded, but it put an energetic strain on him. Normally, a Zodiac would have likely devoured the enemy in a matter of seconds… But now he was a victim of her own mental scars.
Her Mount was barely alive, the War Master Candidate was now out of play, and Jimma was stuck in restraints… as a human sex toy.
Then the bay shuttered with a thunderous vibration. Jimma didn’t quite know what it was, but she could hear the curses of muffled voices in helmets. Then everything went quiet again.
Until the battle drone, known as Marbles, arrived.
Weapons fire unleashed a hail of fully automatic ballistic rounds somewhere behind Jimma’s field of vision. Screams of alarm could barely be heard over the concussive projectile bursts that sprayed the docking area. The hail of fire eased off for a moment, only to be followed by the sounds of multiple grenade detonations around the enemy combatants.
***
Moments earlier…
Marbles watched Jimma’s ordeal from afar. He took stock in the exchange, and quickly realized that the War Master must have had an unpleasant history with the mystery man. He noticed Katherine coming within his visual periphery, but he’d already been tracking her on his motion scan. Don’t do it, Katherine! He told himself. He had no way to communicate with her remotely without the use of hand signals. She seemed so focused on the scene before them that hand signals would have been futile, he figured.
Marbles watched the whole thing go down. He understood that it was all a part of Jimma’s plan… or so he was told. She had failed to elaborate on much detail, but she made it clear not to intervene until they’d either gotten visual confirmation of the captured Zodiac, or if Peterson was present. Thus far, neither of her explicit criteria had been met. He felt powerless to pull Katherine back, and he was worried she would lose control… again. He knew the monster that lurked within her was a ticking time-bomb, and even if it could emerge to provide a positive result, he wasn’t confident she would survive another episode.
But his hand was forced… The War Master had been restrained, and was about to be defiled. Her K-9 companion was motionless. His vitals appeared to be stable, but he was effectively out of the equation.
And now Katherine was on the move.
He watched her collide with the man in a black armor, and stand on top of him. But she’d been rash, and failed to assess the additional threats in the immediate area. Not only were spec ops commandos within twenty meters of her, but several more were coming out of the shadows. Moments later, Katherine was on her back, and would be dead if he didn’t take action.
He lined up a strafing solution within his targeting system, and unleashed his rifle on full auto. Pulse fire would do little against commando armor, but slugs would shatter face shields and pierce hydraulic lines.
He smoothly walked forward and towards the direction of his fallen human allies. The commandos were taken by surprise, as two of them dropped dead from head shots. Most found cover, or took superficial combat damage while trying to return fire.
They had an array of energy based weapons, so he knew his heat resistant alloy chassis would hold up against multiple hits… but even his superior upgrades had limits. He had to suppress the enemy fire by maintaining his barrage as long as possible, but after several seconds, his barrel heat indicator quickly rose to critical levels, and he also noticed his ammunition was dangerously low.
He paused his onslaught of rifle fire as he stepped in and among his comrades, and then fired four forty millimeter frag grenades from his shoulder-mounted launcher. The short lob was timed to cause a precise succession of frag bursts. The remaining enemies were either swept away from the shock-waves, or dove for cover.
He estimated that he had sustained four pulse blasts and six plasma bolts to his chest and torso, but none of them registered any damage beyond carbon scoring. He then chambered two smoke grenades, and an IR flare. They all launched at once, and clanged across the deck plates a moment later. Plumes of smoke bellowed up, and poorly ventilated docking bay was unable to dissipat
e them. The IR flare ignited, and intense IR light illuminated the smoke. Now the visual filters of the enemy troops would be limited, which created a brief opportunity for him to pull his companions to safety.
His first instinct - if drones had instincts - would be to move Katherine to safety first, but he decided against it. She was groaning, and trying to get moving, but she was more ambulatory than the restrained War Master was. He scooped up the bare-assed warrior with his left arm, and turned to run for cover… but he wouldn’t make it.
His sensors saw it first, but given his taxed center of gravity, momentum, and shifting foot position from the awkward load he was carrying, the impact was imminent. The gravity hammer flew through the air and slammed into his back with a massive clang. Its mechanism didn’t engage its inertial energy wave, but the relatively massive object was enough to knock him off of his feet.
He attempted to rotate to allow his right shoulder to impact the deck first, lest he crush the human in his left arm. The sudden shift caused him collide with the decking in a clumsy fashion, which provided enough of an opening for the enemy to rush him. His sensors picked up everything, but he was helpless to respond in time. The footfalls and heat signatures from the troops were drowned out by the sounds of the small arms fire. He was being pummeled by pulse blasts across his back, and although they did no measureable damage, the jarring impacts made it impossible for him to get to his feet. Instead, he cradled Jimma in his arms while positioning himself to be a shield.
The troops eased off the barrage seconds later, but were now diving on the back of the infantry drone. Three troops fumbled on top of him as they struggled to pry his access ports open. “Not today, ass-hats!” He shouted, and then sent a surge of energy through his own back plate.
